


Personal Space

by flootzavut



Series: Swamp(y) Snogs [11]
Category: MASH (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bisexual Hawkeye Pierce, Bisexual Male Character, Episode Related, Episode Tag, Episode: s10e16 Where There's a Will There's a War, Eventual Smut, First Kiss, First Time, Friendship, M/M, Mild Angst, Season/Series 10, Sex, Sharing a Bed, Swamp(y) Kisses, Swamp(y) Sex, WIP, queer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 04:42:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14012415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flootzavut/pseuds/flootzavut
Summary: "It's incredibly late when Hawkeye comes back to the tent for the second time, but he can fall into bed in peace because he did it, he finished his will, and oh God, he's so tired..."





	Personal Space

**Author's Note:**

  * For [onekisstotakewithme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/onekisstotakewithme/gifts).



* * *

_**Personal Space** _

* * *

 

It's incredibly late when Hawkeye comes back to the tent for the second time, but he can fall into bed in peace because he did it, he finished his will, and oh God, he's so tired.

He collapses on his cot with a thud and a creak, manages to toe off his boots, pulls the blanket in a vague approximation of over himself, and is half asleep instantly. Then he yelps in surprise when a long, lanky body slips in beside him and wraps around him like a warm, affectionate octopus. "Wha'?"

Beej all but squeezes the air out of him. "Woke up again and you'd gone," he says. "I was  _worried_."

Part of Hawk wants to ask how BJ got from 'I was worried' to 'Let me do my very best cephalopod impression', but it's so nice to be held (so nice to be held by Beej), and although he's sure he should, he really can't think of a good enough reason to discourage this sort of behaviour. So he nestles in gratefully and breathes in BJ's scent.

"I was scared," Beej murmurs, so quiet Hawkeye's sure he wouldn't have heard if BJ weren't indecently close. "Thought maybe I'd imagined you coming back. Imagined your sutures. I thought- oh God, Hawk, I thought maybe you were dead after all and I'd never..." His arms tighten around Hawkeye's body, and his breathing is unsteady.

"Hey," Hawk manages, extricating one arm from BJ's grasp so he can wrap it around BJ's waist instead. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here. In exactly as many pieces as when I left." He runs the conversation around in his head. "You thought I was dead? You imagined my sutures?"

BJ swallows - gulps even, as if he's trying to force back a lump in his throat. "One of the wounded said... said that a surgeon bought it. I thought it was you. Thought you'd gone and got killed and it was my fault because I wanted to be clean and smart for a few hours. I was  _so_   _sure_  it was you. Then this kid came in and I opened him up, and there were your sutures."

Hawkeye doesn't know how to respond to that. "My sutures?"

BJ nods. "Knew you were okay. White cotton mattress sutures. No one else sutures like that."

It's oddly touching that Beej can recognise his handiwork. "So... then you figured out I was okay," he prompts, still a little lost.

BJ strokes one big, tender hand down Hawk's spine. Hawk tries not to shiver. "Then I saw you this morning, and- oh God, Hawk I was so relieved. I need... need you here, where I can have your back. But the next time I woke up..." He pulls Hawkeye still closer. "I was so scared," he admits, quietly, achingly.

"Oh, Beej. You should know I'd never die on you." Given he was writing his will earlier this evening, the promise rings a little hollow, but Hawk knows it's what he'd need to hear if (God forbid) the situation were reversed.

"You better not."

Hawkeye brushes BJ's hair back from his forehead, then cranes up to drop a kiss there, unable to resist the temptation. "I'm okay," he whispers, talking past the crack in his voice and curling into the comfort of BJ's body. If he ever doubted how much his friendship means to BJ, well... he doesn't any longer.

BJ squeezes him even closer, and if it were someone else, Hawk would make some protest about being allowed to breathe, but it's Beej, and he will happily deal with some mild oxygen deprivation. Then BJ runs his fingers through Hawkeye's hair and kisses the top of his head once, twice, three times, and okay, who needs oxygen anyway?

"Beej?"

"Mmhm?"

"I'm okay. I promise."

There's no answer out loud, but Beej shudders and clutches harder.

"Really, I'm fine. I was scared out of my mind, but I didn't get hurt. All limbs and organs present and accounted for. Arms, two, complete with hands. Legs, two, feet taking turns in mouth. Mouth, way too big and with no off switch."

Beej laughs, and finally relaxes enough that Hawk can breathe easier - both metaphorically and literally. "Remind me. Still owe you a kiss."

BJ's voice is an amused mumble, and Hawk grins into the darkness and snuggles in. The chances of that offer still being valid in daylight and wakefulness are negligible, but it sure is a nice thought.

The tent is quiet, and Hawkeye lets the soft rhythm of BJ's breath roll over him and guide his own. He can tell when Beej falls asleep, because BJ's grip around his body turns softer, less like Beej is holding on to a life raft.  _More like he's holding a lover_ , says an unhelpful voice in the back of Hawkeye's mind. Hawkeye tells it to bug off.

It's not what he expected as a welcome back; he wouldn't have dared hope. Even in his wildest imaginings, cowering in that shack and thinking back to the Swamp with a fondness it doesn't deserve, he never ended up warm and snug in BJ's embrace. He's not sure what this is, he doesn't understand it in the least and he's too tired to try and work it out, but he's wrapped up in BJ, and there's no way he's going to turn that down. In BJ's arms, he can forget the horrors he's seen for a little while, and he thinks he might even get some sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> There will be more chapters to this eventually...
> 
> If you're interested in talking to folks in the fandom, please come join us in [The Swamp](https://discord.gg/H5nHFr4), which is a MASH Discord server where quite a few MASH readers, writers and artists hang out :D


End file.
